Shifting Sands
by Tebby Sweet
Summary: Passing from the Land of Fire to the Land of Wind was always a subtle shift, a barely perceptible change of climate and landscape. The heat didn't rush up to meet you, the leaves and dirt beneath your feet didn't instantly become shifting sands. Everything came gradually, from the temperatures slow climb to the thinning of the trees as dirt gave way to sand and many varied forms of
1. Preface

a/n

First time working on a Naruto fic. I'm a little nervous, but I've been considering it for years. This will be a long story, full of slow burn and fast action. I'm so excited to get this out there.

Passing from the Land of Fire to the Land of Wind was always a subtle shift, a barely perceptible change of climate and landscape. The heat didn't rush up to meet you, the leaves and dirt beneath your feet didn't instantly become shifting sands. Everything came gradually, from the temperatures slow climb to the thinning of the trees as dirt gave way to sand and many varied forms of succulents. Narrow, shady paths slowly shifted into vast open spaces, rolling hills of hot sand, and a merciless sun.

If not for her training, she wouldn't be able to tell the exact moment she crossed the border from one nation to the other. It was somewhere in that in-between place where sand met trees and a blistering sun filtered down through leaves onto the sandy paths below, that she could always feel it.

Or, rather, she could feel _him_.

Perhaps it wasn't her training at all. Maybe it was just that after all these years, being acquainted with his chakra as she was, she could sense it the moment she crossed into it. Into his realm. His nation.

It wasn't exactly a calming shift. If anything it was unsettling, the way his energy seemed to wrap around her as heavy as the heat. All she could think about was being pinned to the tree by his demon manifested arm, breath labored, gasps growing shorter as she lost the fight with her own consciousness. She could still hear him taunting her friends with her life as she faded out, feel that angry, vicious chakra almost vibrating in the air around her. And she could still see him in her mind, more demon than boy, wild eyes filled with fury and pain as he screamed.

His chakra was everywhere in this land. Infused in the sand itself that he controlled with absolute and total perfection, he'd poured himself into his land and poured the land back out until the two were inexplicably intertwined. It was an impressive defense. The very terrain of this nation protected it's people from invasion the same way the sand had always protected him. Nothing moved here, nothing entered or left that he wasn't aware of. Impressive, but unsettling.

She led the team over now familiar terrain, having traversed it herself many times over the last few years, even more than the two men traveling with her. She kept her eyes ahead of her on the nearly imperceptible path they were following and her focus on the open space around her. Her chakra was focused in a loose sort of shield around the man behind her on her left, the one she was here to protect. Loose enough to allow him his own freedom of movement and energy but focused enough that she could tighten it powerfully at a moments notice. She could also sense the other man's energy as he ran behind her to her right, feel it in the long shadows they cast along the sand and smaller ones cast by desert plants and towering dunes.

As the sun moved slowly across the sky they pressed on, speaking quietly on occasion to one another and pausing only when the heavy desert began to give way to giant gusts of sand that whipped and tore at their exposed skin. Masks were tied around the bottom part of their faces and headbands moved to their correct position. She opted out of the protective eye wear, instead letting a small stream of chakra filter the sand from here eyes. Better to spend the chakra and have total visibility. Gear in place they resumed their mission.

She felt it long before she saw it, or again rather she felt his presence there before the city of Suna itself rose up in the distance to greet her. The city was as tough and hard as she remembered it, much like the Kazekage who controlled it. Carved out of massive rock cliffs that rose high into the sky, it blended almost seamlessly into the surrounding terrain. Only the single, narrow entrance between the two cliff faces gave glimpse into life beyond as the sun reflected metallically off giant steel doors.

Night had fallen by the time the group stopped again, high on a dune overlooking Suna before them.

She took a deep, steadying breath behind the mask. The air here was thick with his power and she did her best to control her own reaction, schooling her features into indifference and her emotions to calm.

She wasn't a terrified little genin anymore and she would never let him know the power he still had over her. She had a purpose here. She had a mission.


	2. Cherry Blossoms and Sand

a/n;

Anyone very familiar with the anime will notice certain lines that came straight from the show. I've changed most things about that scene to fit the trajectory of my own story, but the homage to the original is there.

Gaara was frustrated.

He kept his expression calm and unaffected, but he could feel his patience wearing thin as the meeting dragged out ever longer. He allowed himself to imagine momentarily how these simpering men might react if his mask actually cracked from the irritation building inside him. He repressed a small smile at the thought.

The entire point of the meeting had been addressed and concluded within the first fifteen minutes. The Wind daimyo still refused to fund any post-war efforts, despite having been more than willing to support and pay for all expenses during the Fourth Shinobi War. Now, over two years later and in the wake of the Shinobi Union's formation, they were reluctant to fund any issues that had arisen after the war was won. Compensation for families of the many fallen shinobi, rehabilitation costs for the injured, reparation costs for damage done to the Village Hidden in the Sand.

Gaara suspected the daimyo's displeasure at the the village for joining the Shinobi Union was at the root of his refusal to aid them now. With the five great hidden villages in alliance with one another, it had become much more difficult for the five daimyo to carry out their petty and unceasing squabbling with one another. The five Kage worked hard to ease tensions between the great nations peacefully, rather than resorting to carrying out acts of subterfuge and violence on the daimyo's behalf. While still beholden to their will the Kage had managed to maintain peace in the years following the Fourth War by resolving issues together with minimal force.

But peace was something that those in power could rarely understand or abide long, or so Gaara had observed over his years as Kazekage. For those who neither had to participate in the power struggles or suffer the consequences of them it was easy to forget quickly the need for peace. And so the five daimyo seethed as the the shinobi who kept them in power worked together to settle conflict between the nations rather than mistrusting each other as they once had.

The three attendants in front of him had informed him almost immediately upon their arrival of their lord's refusal to provide assistance, and so Gaara had been left for the past forty five minutes dealing with the much more mundane and irritating task of answering questions about the village's current forces, relations with his fellow Kage, and reports of the day to day missions carried out by the village's shinobi. Any of which matters could have been forwarded to the daimyo in a letter, rather than this tedious business for the sake of appearances.

Enough. This had taken up time better spent finding a solution for his people. He placed his hands on the large oak desk before him and stood abruptly.

"Esteemed sirs, I thank you for taking the time to travel here all the way from the capital. Your journey has doubtless been tiring and I'm sure you would like an evening of rest before setting off in the morning. Your communication of the daimyo's will has been informative and I will move forward with his decision in mind. Please, if there is anything my assistants can provide for you during your brief stay, let them know. Now if you will excuse me, I have a meeting with an important visitor and he will be arriving momentarily. Temari, Kankuro, please see our guests out."

His tone offered no room for argument. Any offense his words may have caused was concealed carefully behind smug smiles and half bows as the men retreated from his office. Gaara resumed his seat as the doors closed behind his siblings, leaving him alone for the first few moments of the day. He finally allowed his stiff shoulders to relax as he leaned forward and rested his head in his hands.

How to proceed?

They were by no means a poor village, being one of the great five. But this village was smaller than the others, with little in the way of civilian trades or tourist attractions. Practically the only source of income were missions carried out by the shinobi, of which the village was almost completely made up of. With so many of them killed or injured during the war, the number of missions they could safely carry out had been drastically reduced. There simply wasn't enough money coming into the village to adequately support the families of the fallen, and the villages hospital was still overflowing with patients awaiting critical treatment and undergoing extensive rehabilitation. Treatment and rehabilitation that required trained medical shinobi to provide. And trained medical shinobi required money.

The endless cycle of politics was enough to slowly drive a man mad, Gaara thought wearily to himself. It had never occurred to him while leading the Allied Forces into battle that he might miss the _simplicity_ of commanding an entire army. The day to day duties as Kazekage seemed to wear him down far more than the title of Regimental Commander ever had. He allowed himself one more small sigh before sitting straight in his chair again, raking his fingers absentmindedly through his hair as he did. He smoothed a hand over non-existent wrinkles in his uniform and faced the door just as it opened.

"Lord Sixth, I'm pleased to see you've arrived safely. Please, have a seat. Your entire team must be tired; I would not have been offended if you had chosen to rest before our meeting," Gaara said. His own words sounded much more pleasant to his ears then moments ago when speaking to the daimyo's attendants. Seeing his old comrades and fellow shinobi would be a pleasing end to his evening.

Across his desk, Kakashi Hatake bowed his head briefly before removing the formal Kage uniform cap that Gaara knew he disliked. The two shinobi who had accompanied him stood at the back of the room with his siblings, and Gaara allowed himself a very small smile.

Shikamaru Nara, a good friend and an exceptionally skilled shinobi. Gaara was sure he had never met another strategist as intelligent or capable as the man in this room. He was leaning against the wall by the open window next to Temari, perhaps a little closer to her than was necessary. His sister didn't seem to mind however; he was actually quite sure she was blushing, something Temari never did. Mystifying. Romantic relationships absolutely baffled him.

Sakura Haruno stood by the door near Kakuro. He knew her as one of Naruto's closest friends and old squad mates, though he was aware the rest of the world knew her as one of the greatest medical ninja the shinobi had ever seen. Her presence pleased him; perhaps he would get a chance to discuss treatment options for his wounded shinobi during her stay. He had received word from Temari about the Children's Mental Health Clinic she had recently opened within Konaha's largest hospital. It was still fairly new, but Temari had mentioned the possibility of Sakura coming to Suna to help them lay the groundwork for their own clinic. Perhaps this visit would provide an opportunity to discuss both things with her.

He turned his attention back to Kakashi.

"Lord Fifth, thank you for opening your village to us on such short notice. It was an eleventh hour decision to come here; you're well aware that Naruto and Hinata's wedding is barely two weeks away," said Kakashi.

Gaara inclined his head in agreement and allowed the older man to continue.

"We've run into some last minute hangups regarding security for the wedding. They have many friends, Naruto especially, from all five nations who will be in attendance. Hinata's family is also very large, one of the most prominent clans in our village. The issue that we're enountering here is simple- all of their friends and family want to attend the wedding and celebrate the day with the two of them, but not only does that leave our village with little to no security for the day, we also need to ensure that days missions are being carried out as usual. We simply don't have enough shinobi without many of their friends and family missing the ceremony."

Kakashi stood up. He bowed low, and Gaara opened his mouth to speak, to tell him that humbling himself in such a way wasn't necessary, but Kakashi pressed on.

"And so, Lord Fifth, would it be possible to dispatch some Hidden Sand shinobi on the day of the wedding? I kindly implore you. Your services will be paid for of course, and I know Naruto will be pleased to see one of his closest friends in attendance," he finished. Gaara was taken aback momentarily; one of Naruto's closest friends? Was that perhaps how the hero of the shinobi saw him? The idea was pleasing; he himself considered Naruto his closest friend in the world, though he had never presumed to place himself so high in the other shinobi's eyes.

"Please, raise your head Lord Sixth. The Raikage, Tsuchikage, Mizukage, and I have all been thinking about what we can do. We didn't want to overdo things. I plan on celebrating with them personally as Naruto's friend, but I also wanted to do something as the Kazekage. This is all possible because of the bonds of peace that Naruto forged between the great villages, and it was only possible through his strength and determination. It's only fitting that we help to make Naruto's wedding a great success. All four villages have agreed to dispatch extra shinobi with the Kage's teams to help ease any burden on the Hidden Leaf village," Gaara replied, and this time the smile on his face was full and genuine.

Kakashi stood back up, relief and gratitude evident in his own expression.

"Thank you very much, Lord Fifth," he said before pausing, and Gaara waited curiously as Kakashi chose his next words.

"Then may I be so bold as to ask one more favor of you, Lord Fifth?" he finally asked.

"Of course, what is it? Please tell me."

Kakashi laughed then and turned to look over his shoulder at Sakura. He motioned her forward, still chuckling quietly to himself. The kunoichi came forward with a small smile of her own, pulling something small from the folds of her tunic as she did so.

"One of Naruto's friends, a young genin named Konahamaru, is putting together a video for Naruto and Hinata of all their friends and family wishing them well on their journey as his wedding gift. He was stopped from accompanying us last minute when he sent on a mission with his squad and so he asked Sakura if she would help complete the video for him," Kakashi explained as the small woman approached Gaara at his desk with what he could only call a devilish smirk on her face. She whipped the small video recorder open and pointed it at him; had she seemed so terrifying before pointing that thing at him, he wondered as he began to panic slightly. He was no good at being put on the spot.

Kankuro had followed her across the room and he came to stand behind him. Gaara was positive that was laughter shaking his brothers body. He might have pelted him with a wave of sand if he hadn't been so busy flinging himself and his chair back from the table as quickly as possible in an effort to avoid the recording.

"A video message for you friend, Garra, say something!" cackled Kankuro, pointing at the camera as Gaara scrambled away. He clapped his hands down on Gaara's shoulders and held him in place before he could bolt from the chair.

"Say what?"

"Like a proverb or something!"

"I can't come up with something just like that!"

"Come on! You're no Kazekage if you can't come up with a proverb!"

Gaara squirmed his way from underneath his brothers hands and dove out of sight of the camera. He reached the open window beside Shikamaru in an instant, and as he leapt out of it into the night he was certain he could hear the laughter of his friends echoing in the room behind him. As the sand rose up to meet him and deliver him safely to the ground he smirked rather maniacally to himself. Sand rushed up above him and he heard the laughter in the room turn to abrupt shrieks of indignation as a wave of sand rushed through the open window and swept over everyone in the room.

* * *

They were right; it _was_ funny.

The sun was still rising in the sky when Gaara walked to his office the next morning. He felt more rested than he had in some time. The ever pressing problems of funding were still weighing heavily on his mind, but the daimyo's attendants had left with the sun this morning, old comrades from the leaf village were here for a short while, and he would himself be leaving in two weeks to attend Naruto's wedding. If only he could avoid that blasted video recorder, today could be a good day.

Apparently that was not to be the case however, he realized upon stepping into his office.

The medical ninja was already there, leaning against his desk with her legs crossed at the ankles. She held a cup of hot tea in one hand and the video recorder in the other. Gaara's eyes widened comically at the sight.

"Lord Fifth, so good to see you this morning! I brought us both some tea to start the day, and I thought we might discuss some details about the village hospital- I'm sure Temari told you about my hopes for opening a children's mental health clinic here in Suna as well," she chirped happily, and if not for the mischief in her eyes and the recorder in her hand he might be totally focused on the topic at hand.

As it was he edged his way slowly into his own office, making his way around the borders of the room closest to the still open window. He kept his eyes trained on her hand as he spoke.

"Of course, Lady Sakura, I would enjoy hearing more about your clinic, and I have some issues of my own at our hospital that I was hoping to speak to you about if you have time to spare. However, ah, that recorder that you're holding..." he trailed off as she held the offensive item up with an innocent smile.

"Oh, this little thing? I'm amazed, Lord Fifth, I wouldn't have taken you for camera shy."

"I'm not... camera shy. I'm not. But I would like to prepare the right thing to say to Naruto, and I need time to decide, and I can't simply- what are you doing?"

Sakura chuckled as she brandished the recorder at him once more before setting it next to her on his desk. He breathed a small sigh of relief.

"I'm only teasing you a bit, I apologize. Many of us back home had time to prepare our messages for the video before letting Konahamru record us. Of course I'll do the same for you. I just need to get it before heading back to the village so Konahamru doesn't panic. He's determined to get something from all of the people closest to Naruto; he's taking it very serious," she explained. Gaara finally moved away from his position by the window to approach his desk. Sakura reached out again and picked up another cup of hot tea he hadn't noticed next to her and handed it to him. He accepted it gratefully with a small inclination of his head.

"Please, sit here with me Lady Sakura and we can discuss the ideas you have for opening a clinic here," he told her, settling himself in his own chair behind the desk. She moved to sit across from him, thankfully pocketing the cursed recorder as she did so.

"Yes, the Children's Mental Health Clinic. I established it as a division of the Konaha hospital when it became apparent that many children across our nation who suffered through the war were not recovering well from the tragedies and the deaths of those they knew. Most of our adults were able to be at peace thanks to the end of the hostilities that had gone on so long, but for the children it hasn't been so simple. We've been able to open our doors to countless children, not just from our village but others across the land, civilian and shinobi alike. Some extreme cases have required extended stays and long term rehabilitation, but most of what we provide is grief counseling and pyscho therapy, with the aim of equipping them with the structure and ability to deal with their grief in manageable ways. We can't hold each of their hands as we send them back out into the world, particularly the young shinobi, but we can do our best to educate them in safe methods of dealing with the trauma they've experienced," Sakura explained. She spoke rapidly the more enthused she became by the subject and it was clear to Gaara that this was a mission close to her heart.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, and certainly one I can see being beneficial here. Many children in this village particularly were orphaned in the war, or have parents still hospitalized and unable to take care of them. We've done what we can in the way of grief counseling, but we would certainly need to bring in medical ninja trained specifically in this area, or provide on location training to ninja here," Gaara replied, turning over the logistics of such a thing in his head. As always it seemed to come down to resources that were scarce in the village. However, the appointing of one or two trained ninja to oversee a small clinic was a much more manageable task than somehow obtaining the amount of them needed to treat the entire overflowing hospital.

"The best course of action would likely be to select these ninja from your own village, at least one of them. Some chidren might feel more at ease speaking to someone they feel they can relate to more easily. And it will be quicker to train them rather than requesting suitable candidates from the medical core," she said, pausing to sip quietly from her cup. Gaara did the same as he contemplated the opening of such a clinic. The room was filled with an easy silence for a few minutes as the sun rose high in the sky. Desert wind blew in from the open window but the fan on the ceiling and the stucco walls of the building helped keep the room bearable even as the hot sun shone mercilessly outside.

It was Sakura who broke the silence some time later.

"Lord Fifth, you mentioned some issues at the Suna hospital you wanted to discuss? Is there something that I can help you with there?" she asked, and Gaara was a little startled to discover he'd drifted away in the peace and stillness of their silence.

"Ah, yes, I was actually hoping you would accompany me on a visit there. Funding for additional trained medical ninja and supplies for some extensive operations are my biggest concern at the moment, but I was hoping to persuade you, one of the most renowned medical ninja of our time, to take a lend a hand with some of the wounded. Perhaps your extensive medical ability will be of more use to some of our more critical cases, and many of our doctors would surely benefit from observing you," Gaara said. The woman across the desk from him looked momentarily surprised, as though she was taken off guard by the compliments. But surely she was routinely complimented for her outstanding abilities- she hadn't been hailed as a medical genius over the last few years for nothing.

"Absolutely, I can go there with you right away if you've no other commitments this morning. I'll do whatever I can to assist the people there; I'm ashamed to say it, Lord Fifth, but I was unaware of Suna's situation being so bad. Most of Konaha's patients have been treated and rehabilitated in the last two years; it didn't occur to me that Suna might be facing difficulty or I would have come immediately myself," she replied. Again, Gaara was surprised by this woman, though he knew he ought not be. This was one of Naruto Uzamaki's closest friends, closer to him than anyone besides perhaps Sasuke Uchiha. She couldn't be such a treasured friend if she didn't have the same giving nature and too big heart that enabled Naruto to forge bonds everywhere he went, caring for everyone he met along the way. It really shouldn't surprise him at all that this woman should be so open and caring. It seemed to be a trait Naruto naturally inspired in those he held close.

"As I said, funding has been our biggest issue over the last two years. The daimyo is reluctant to fund the post war efforts as he did the actual war, and the Sand village's main source of income are our missions, which took a serious blow with the loss of so many shinobi. We've been left with many critically injured shinobi and not enough trained staff to assist them all. Many might even make full recoveries if given the proper operations and rehabilitation but there is simply an overwhelming number and an inadequate amount of medics skilled enough to help. We've outsourced what we can from the other villages and from the medical core, but again it comes down to funding and so my hands are tied," Gaara said. He placed his cooled cup on the desk and stood, watching as she did the same. The look of determination on the woman's face brought another small smile to his lips. Yes, there were certainly obvious reasons why she was so close to Naruto. Big hearts and even bigger determination. No small amount of stubbornness too, he was sure.

He headed for the door across the room, and held it open respectfully for her to walk through. She gave him a small smile as she passed through, sweeping past him through the open door. As she did, he inhaled a scent foreign to this desert country mingled with his sand that was everywhere. He stood still for just a moment as he contemplated it.

Cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms and sand.


End file.
